Michael Montgomery

In the Mexican state of Michoacan, civilian militias have put a powerful drug cartel, the Knights Templar, on the run. Among the vigilantes are migrants, like Reny Pineda, returning from the U.S.

Michael Montgomery talks about “The Pot Republic,” the Frontline and Center for Investigative Reporting investigation of the country’s oldest, largest and most wide-open marijuana market in California. The bulk of the marijuana consumed in the United States used to come across the border from Mexico, Canada and elsewhere, but now more than half of it is believed to be grown in California, where an enormous black market has emerged under the cover of the state’s medical marijuana law. Several California counties are attempting to openly regulate pot production. Frontline’s “The Pot Republic” airs July 26, at 9pm ET on PBS.